GERMANY

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GERMANY

• Budesrepublik Deutschland
• (Federal Republic of Germany)

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German Reichs

• 1st Reich Charlemagine, Holy Roman Empire, 800
  A.D.
• 2nd Reich Bismark, 1871
• 3rd Reich Hitler, 1933

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Germany and WWI

• Blame
• Treaty of Versailles

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Hitler

• Assumed office in 1933 democratically but soon
  seized power and suspended constitution
• 3rd Reich
• Holocaust, WWII

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Adolf Hitler (1889-1945)

• Over 60 million dead in WWII

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Head of State

• Federal president
• Elected for maximum of two five year terms by the
  Federal Assembly, which consists of members of
  the Bundestag and representatives o the state
  legislatures
• Current president is Horst Kohler

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Chief Executive

• Chancellor
• Elected by the Bundestag
• Angela Merkel, CDU

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Political Parties

• Government is composed of a grand coalition of
  the Christian Democratic Union (CDU not present
  in Bavaria) and the Social democratic Party of
  Germany (SPD)
• Opposition parties represented in parliament are
  the Free Democratic Party (FDP) the Left Party
  and the Greens

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Elections

• Turnout in German elections typically high 80

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Germany Basic Law of 1949

• Imposed by the Allies, considered temporary, but
  is basis of current constitution
• Allows for pooling of sovereignty but has
  required amending to do so
• Based on Roman civil code tradition

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German Territorial Division

• At the end of WWII, Germany divided into four
  administrative zones (American, British, French
  and Soviet)
• The first three became W. Germany, the Soviet
  became East Germany

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Reunification

• Willy Brandts Ostpolitik (1972)
• Berlin Wall collapses in 1989
• Five states (Lander) of East Germany reunited
  with West Germany on October 3rd, 1990

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Reagans Speech

• Tear Down This Wall Speech
• June 12, 1987
• Delivered at the Brandenburg Gate, Berlin Wall,
  with speakers aimed at both the West and the East

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What Explains Germanys post-WWII Success?

• Konrad Adenauer
• Marshall Plan (encouraged integration)
• European Union

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Legislature Bicameral

• BUDESTAG lower house
• 662 members, 328 directly elected from individual
  constituencies 334 elected through party lists
  in each state, so as to obtain proportional
  representation
• Parties must win at least 5 of the national
  vote, or three constituency seats, to gain
  representation

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Legislature

• BUNDESRAT upper house
• Consists of members nominated by the 16 state
  governments

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Germany and the EU

• Germany has, since 1949, been an eager partner in
  its willingness to pool sovereignty on behalf of
  the EU
• Konrad Adenauer 91949-1963) saw the ECSC and EU
  integration in general as a way of linking
  Germany with France and as a way for Germany to
  escape into Europe.